80+1

a virtual journey around the world
guest blog posts by Florica Vlad (2009)

“The famed French science fiction author would not be astounded by the global travel possibilities available to humankind today. In 1872, the father of science fiction sent an English gentleman named Phileas Fogg on his world-famous journey “Around the World in 80 Days.” In 2009, Ars Electronica and voestalpine will dispatch the city of Linz on a trip around the world, though this one will be a virtual adventure via the fiber optic cables and satellite hookups of our globalized information society.

Over the course of these 80 days, we’ll make stops on over 20 locations around the world where the future is being invented and mastered as well as thwarted and destroyed. We have assigned a particular theme to each of these locations: climate change, coexistence, and exploration.

We will use artistic and technological means to elaborate on the essential problems of our future and to get an updated picture of our globalized, networked world. -Cyrus Farivar